Coping with Disasters: Free Resources for Kids

This school year is very different than most. Youth across the country have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, hurricanes and other crises. For children, these changes and events can potentially bring up a lot of emotions, such as feeling nervous, scared or anxious.

With all of this in mind, the American Red Cross has developed several free resources that adults can use with children to help them build resilience and cope with emergencies.

K-2 STUDENTS:

• Our Prepare with Pedro curriculum follows Pedro the Penguin as he learns about how to stay safe during emergencies, such as home fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and more. Digital storybooks are available to download along with coloring sheets.
  
• Pedro also learns how to manage feeling nervous, scared and anxious with the help of his friends in the Prepare with Pedro: Resilience and Coping Skills Activity Book, which is available to download in 13 languages.
   

3RD-5TH GRADE STUDENTS:

• The Pillowcase Project curriculum covers general emergency preparedness, home fire safety and coping skills. The materials are digital and available to download.
  
• To parallel The Pillowcase Project, we have created an online learning resource for students of this age group. The "Become a Preparedness Champion" video series highlights proper hand washing techniques, coping skills and home fire safety. Grown-ups can use the My Household Preparedness Workbook to reaffirm the lessons taught in the videos and continue to develop your family’s emergency preparedness plan.
   

Our Building Resilience in Children through Coping Skills webpage offers several additional resources, such as storybooks, animated videos and activity books that complement the resources outlined above. We are also offering virtual youth preparedness presentations. Contact your local Red Cross office to schedule one today.

In addition, emergency preparedness information for all members of your household is available.